Early the next morning, Jet entered the recreation room that they were using for Delta’s learning activities. No sign of April. Jet had grown fond of her over the past week. Her learning activities had gone so well. If she had known that April had the water affliction, she would have avoided the cafeteria at all costs. Jet got something to eat, and then went to see if Ash was available. They needed to have a serious discussion.
Jet couldn’t find Ash anywhere that she had access to in the complex. She was about to go exploring a bit further out when she heard laughter from the recreation room. She entered to find April focused on an arrangement of a set of gears that Jet hadn’t noticed were in the room.
“April, are you okay?” Jet asked.
“Jet?” April giggled. “Ready to get online?” she asked while holding a pair of VR glasses.
Jet was stunned. April showed no physical signs of damage, but last night, it had looked like her skin had burned.
“Remarkable, isn’t it?” Ash said as she walked in.
Where the hell did she come from? Jet thought.
“Yes. Whatever you gave her cleared her skin. I can’t even tell that she was injured,” Jet said.
“Delta’s skin is special. A friend of mine—who is no longer with us—developed it. It can withstand physical damage to a high degree and heal rapidly,” Ash said.
“I don’t understand. Last night you said something about some aquatic disease—”
“Aquagenic urticaria. I thought it was something we got out of her during her transformation. When I examined her last night, there was nothing physically wrong. Additional study is required, but I think these reactions are some kind of muscle memory,” Ash said.
“Let’s play!” April said as she thrust the VR goggles up to Jet’s face.
“Go ahead, play with her. We will talk later,” Dr. Ash said as she made her way toward the door.
April had everything set up. These VR goggles were a new wireless model; at home, Jet had a beta of an older, cheaper model.
“What level is your character in the Colossal Machine?” Jet asked.
“Around sixty. I was just able to get my private area,” April said.
“Good. We may need to use it in case my microcosm is . . . gone.”
“I have my room all set up. I even have a picture of Grandpa and me.”
Jet put on the VR goggles, calibrated them, and then logged into the Colossal Machine. She added Delta to her friends list. Her heart sank when she saw Nigel’s name there.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
We will be together soon, Jet thought.
“April, add me to your Friends list. My screen name is—”
“JetaGirl,” April interrupted.
“Yes, but how did you know?”
“I figured you would use something related to your name. Lev also helped.”
“Oh,” Jet said.
Seconds later, Jet was standing in the ruins of her beloved microcosm: her pets slaughtered, her mage tower in ruins. The waterfall and river were dry. She could see the remains of her pets. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble; destroying her microcosm was one thing, but going out of one’s way to kill virtual creatures in such a cruel manner was disturbing.
That winged bastard!
She remembered the battle she’d had the last time she’d logged in. The other player must have been using some sort of exploit; she had felt her avatar being drained of her powers. The Colossal Machine didn’t equip players with magic like other games. There were no mana pools to manage—only reagents. In theory, players could cast an infinite number of spells, but they had to carry reagents, which took up space and weight in their backpacks. Since most of these reagents had to be carried on the mage in order for these spells to work, that was the limiting factor. The power, potency, and effect of these spells depended on the players’ magical abilities.
“He must have been using an exploit!” Jet said.
“Who?” April asked.
“My microcosm is destroyed. I think the person responsible was using cheats,” Jet said.
“That’s not nice!” April said.
“April, are you at your microcosm?”
“Yeah, but there is something wrong with it.”
“What do you mean?”
“It looks like it is tearing itself apart.”
“Does your character have the magic ability? Can you summon me?” Jet asked.
“I have magic, but I don’t think I know that spell.”
“You should. That is one of the few spells that gets added to your spell book when you learn the magical ability,” Jet explained.
April examined her spell book.
“I see it!” April said.
April tapped on Jet’s character in the virtual interface. Since she had VR goggles, she saw a three-dimensional representation of Jet’s avatar.
“Sum-Ur-Por-Vel,” April chanted as she waved her arms in the air. The game didn’t require any hand gestures to use magic, but most people did because it seemed like the wizardly thing to do.
Jet heard a loud gong sound as it displayed the following message:
MonkeyGirl has sent you a summons. Do you accept?
Jet accepted the invitation.
Getting summoned to another player’s microcosm was an interesting experience, and it could be disorienting at first. Jet opened her eyes and saw April’s in-game avatar; she was tall, slender, and wore the simple robes of a novice spell caster. Jet’s eyes were drawn to a photo of April and Jeremiah on a table near a wall. It looked . . . strange, but she didn’t know why.
“I’ve never seen those robes before. What rank of mage are you?”
“I’m not a mage anymore. I’m a Magi,” Jet said.
“What’s a Magi?”
“It is the highest rank of spell caster there is in the current revision of the Colossal Machine.”
“Wow!”
“At this rank, I no longer require reagents for spells below level seven. Most mages in the Colossal Machine don’t have mana pools to manage since there are reagents; however, the rank of Magi has this mana burden,” Jet explained.
Jet’s eye was yet again drawn to the photo, and a greenish glow emanated from around the frame.
April shrieked.
“What’s wrong?” Jet said.
“I saw something from there.”
Jet followed April’s hand; she was pointing to something just above the picture. From Jet’s angle, she couldn’t tell what April was pointing at. Jet shifted positions until she was behind April. She could see a small tear in the fabric of the Colossal Machine. The greenish glow was brighter from this angle. Closer examination revealed a large, bloodshot eyeball peering in from the other side of the wall.
“Is that a Dark Denizen?” April asked.
“I don’t think so. I’m not sure what that is.”